School girls Gretchen (Christina Wood) and Margarita (Victoria Smith) are just unwilling to accept the restriction of society anymore, they want to dress up, have (real or imagined) adventures, they want to be free … but how can you be free in a world where even skipping classes is considered a major fault, and it’s expected from the girls that they just fit in, whether they like it or not … and the girls do not like it, and they decide to drop out, have the adventures they think they have a right to, become witches – as they call themselves -, feared by society at large. Their decision results in more freedom indeed, marvelous adventures, too – but also utter chaos …

First and foremost, I have to admit the above synopsis doesn’t do Savage Witches any justice, as this is not a narrative movie as such but a highly experimental mood piece, combining footage shot on vastly different formats, live action and animation, even storyboard drawings and voice-overs that might have been lifted from interviews with the actresses, carried by a beautiful avant-garde musical score. All this, paired with a lyrical approach to the story as such, which is to an extent reminiscent of Jean Rollin’s most beautiful films (though without the nudity), and a welcome disinterest in meeting audience expectations make a very wonderful film that has to be experienced rather than seen.